One more time (A Raura one-shots collection)
by dreamfall101
Summary: Raura one-shots and fluff! Rated T. Please have a look!


"R-Ross?" Laura slid the green-framed door open by an inch, peeking through the little slit between the walls.

Ross, looking up from his book, glanced around searching for the source of sound. Finally, his eyes landed upon a pair of hazel brown eyes behind the door. His furrowed brows noticeably ceased, and his shoulders weakened into a slump.

"Laur." He said in a low voice, which came out more of a husky whisper. His musical voice had exposed such utter adoration and admiration for the petite behind the wall; the hazel-eyed girl couldn't help but look away. What was in his voice, it was too much to bear for any other adult, more or less an ordinary seventeen year old.

Laura and Ross have always been best friends. If anyone asked when and how did they first meet, they probably wouldn't remember any of it, as they've known each other since they were toddlers.

Ross cleared his voice. "Another bad dream?"

Laura nodded solemnly, opening the door just wide enough for her little body to slip in. Stepping into the plain bedroom, she revealed her full set of pajamas. It was oddly the one Ross picked out for her in the mall the other day, a set of navy blue top and matching pants, with bright red cherries scattered randomly all over the place. Ross had thought it was a perfect match for shy little Laura. She loved to eat cherries after all. He even found the right size in the children section.

"Come here." He smiled softly, stripping off his blue-checkered blanket and exposing the empty spot next to him.

She silently crawled into the space next to him, and to her surprise, it was very warm. Not in a bad way, but in a way that would lure you into sleep, the kind where you just want to stay there for the rest of the day instead of taking on the heavy world.

"Say, did you fart in here?" Laura joked quietly, a smile creeping onto her pale cheeks.

"Har har, very funny." Ross attempted to roll his eyes sarcastically, but ended up laughing anyway.

They stayed there, Ross and Laura, for a few minutes, just looking at the ceiling and enjoying each other's heart-warming presence. Ross wasn't entirely new to this situation, really. It had always been their routine ever since Laura's dad passed away. It wasn't shocking, and it wasn't sudden either. Just...hollow. This was the only word that could've described everyone at the hospital that day, hearing the slowing sound of the machine that finally ended into a long and mournful one.

The truth? It wasn't death itself that scared everyone. They'd got to be prepared since Laura's dad had been suffering from extreme cancer for more than half a year. It was the truth that scared them. The moment the machine died into a silent scream, any hope left in their hearts had died with it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ross gently said. The girl's lips were suppressed into a grim line.

She curled into a sphere, similar to an infant within their mother's womb, before nodding slowly. Laura bit lip, and god knew it wasn't from anxiety or embarrassment; with Ross she was never nervous. It was from the tears that were demanding to spill.

"Laura, you're human. It's okay to cry." Ross whispered into her rose-scented hair. He lifted her chin ever so slightly, just enough so that he was facing her nose to nose. His breathing quickened at how close Laura was, but his heart simultaneously dropped when he remembered the brunette would never, in a million years, return the favor.

"Dad. Daddy. H-He, he said g-goodbye. I d-don't want-t goodbyes. I-I hate goodbyes-s." Laura sobbed faintly as she rested her head on Ross's chest. Immediately, Ross felt his shirt soak up with tears, and it pained his heart to see his angel cry.

"Shh." He said, mumbling a list of soothing hymns, telling her that everything will be alright, telling her the same things he'd been repeating every night.

Soon, Laura's tears were dried up, and her sobbing came to a stop. Ross sighed in satisfaction, glad that his angel wasn't tearing up anymore.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked, drawing calm circles on her smooth skin and sounding genuinely concerned. Laura looked up from her lashes. Even though there were tearstains down her jaw line, along with angry red marks outlining the rim of her eyes, Ross' mind still swooned in realizing, for the hundredth time of the week, what a beauty she was.

"Yea-ah." Laura replied weakly, her voice cracking midway. "Ross, you're a good friend."

Ross instantly stiffed, and it was as if his carefully glued-back heart was shattering into a million pieces all over again. _A fool. A total fool._ He thought to himself. _How can such a rare gemstone come to love a piece of street-side rock? I knew I was a fool._

"Yeah." Ross said plainly, but anyone who was even paying the slightest attention would have noticed the bitter tone dripping from his voice.

Laura scrunched her bunny nose in confusion. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's n-nothing. Just really tired of school I-I guess. Cause, you know, exam's coming u-up." Ross stuttered over his words. He shut his eyes in praying that Laura hadn't noticed it.

"Ross," She sighed, "Just spill."

He replied with a sigh in return. "Oh fine. I've been working on this new song with R5 and I'm having a writer's block. So...yeah."

The look in Laura's eyes said it all. She didn't believe him one bit in that statement, and she was devastated and despaired at the same time. What was it that Ross was hiding from her that was so important?

After a moment of consideration, she decided to let it go. If he had to hide a secret from her, it would have to be something very serious, and she approved for him to keep his own privacy.

And really, it was indeed something very serious. Ross had hopelessly and devotedly given up his heart to his best friend; and the lucky brunette was, as usual, wholly oblivious to it.

"Hey, did you know why I picked out that pajama for you?" Ross asked out of the blue in a masked humor that Laura decided not to question.

"And why's that Mr. Lynch?"

"Because you like cherries." He answered, quite plainly. She giggled at the randomness of his question and answer.

What the petite didn't know, was that the numerous pairs of cherries on her pajamas stood for the only one true subject she was blinded to: love.


End file.
